NCCR North-South - Research Partnerships for Sustainable Development

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PAMS South Asia

Partnership Actions (PAMS) South Asia

Completed PAMS Projects

Meeting the challenges of Peace-building in Tourism in Pokhara – Strengthening the Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Business OperationDuration: August 2011 to April 2013Executing Agency:Pokhara Tourism CouncilPartners: SwisspeaceDue to political instability, the tourism industry in Pokhara, Nepal, contends with a very conflict-sensitive environment. This PAMS strengthened tourism’s potential for peace promotion. The project involved a local tourism umbrella organisation and individual associations within it. Guidelines for conflict sensitivity and a code of conduct for ethical business operation were formulated. These guidelines were highly debated, they were discussed, written and rewritten several times until approved by all involved actors. Involved in this process were 11 various categories of tourism practitioners like hoteliers, travel agencies, trekking agency operators, tourism related media, transport entrepreneurs, etc. The publication of these guidelines was supported and financed by the Nepal Tourism Board. This negotiation process helped not only to understand the root causes of inter-organizational and inter-organization conflict in tourism sector in Pokhara but also to start mitigating and preventing them in sustainable way.

Integrated improvement of urban environmental sanitation services in Nala VDC, NepalDuration: February 2011 to October 2012Executing Agency: CIUD KathmanduPartners: Sandec/EawagThe purpose of this PAMS was to improve sanitation in Nala. First, a simplified sewerage network was constructed. Second, a revolving funding mechanism was established: 81 households took out loans from the fund to connect to the sewerage network. Third, 13 households took out loans to build themselves toilets. As a result, the community where the PAMS was implemented is now free of open defecation. With the support of WaterAid Nepal, the executing agency CIUD Kathmandu successfully acquired additional funds to improve sanitation in Nala’s five remaining rural wards, encompassing 5100 more residents. As part of the revolving fund, an operations and maintenance fund has also been established. This PAMS confirmed the strengths of a revolving fund mechanism for improving sanitation in the Global South.

Hemp Production for Livelihood Security in Dhabang and Mirul VDCs of Rolpa DistrictDuration: February 2010 to June 2011Executing Agency: Research and Advocacy for Social Transformation (RAST), KathmanduPartners: DSGZIn this project, 30 hemp-producing farmers in Nepal were trained in manufacturing and selling handicraft from hemp. The project aim was to improve farmers’ livelihoods via improved technology and skill-development trainings on cultivation of the cannabis plant as well as production and marketing of hemp products (Bhangro). Collaboration with a local cooperative helped ensure the project’s sustainability.

Research-Based Policy Dialogues and Advocacy for Sustainable Forest Governance in Northwest Pakistan Duration: February 2010 to June 2011Executing Agency: Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), IslamabadPartners: DSGZOver the last decade, Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has launched forest-management reforms that aim at more participatory forest management. So far, the reforms have produced few results. This PAMS initiated research-informed dialogues on forestry issues between policymakers and important stakeholders. Project findings and policy messages on forest management were disseminated via policy briefs. The project contributed to raising local stakeholders’ and communities’ awareness of forest governance issues.Download policy brief (English / PDF 887 KB)

Bridging the Gap between Research, Policy and Practice on Land IssuesDuration: January 2009 to January 2011Executing Agency:NCCR North-South Regional Coordination Office, KathmanduPartners: DSGZIn this PAMS, a Consortium for Land Research and Policy Dialogue (COLARP) was established in association with Nepali academic institutions, policymakers, NGOs, and activists. The COLARP is a unique combination of academic and non-academic institutions that formulates responses to land-related issues. Its recommendations are highly sought after by policymakers active in land reforms. This Nepali think tank builds on the achievements of earlier NCCR North-South research activities and partnership actions. For example, it has adopted lessons from an earlier project on landless people’s access to land resources in Nepal. Based on the project’s research and advocacy activities, local political leaders took up the cause of the landless and discriminatory norms were abolished.

Strengthening migrants' wives in rural north-west PakistanDuration: September 2008 to March 2010Executing Agency:Dir Area Development Organization (DADO), Dir
Sustainable Development Policy Institute, IslamabadPartners: DSGZThis project contributed to women's empowerment in rural north-west Pakistan. In this region, male migration has negative effects on women’s lives: due to their husband’s absence, their workload increases, as does their dependence on in-laws. They are exposed to discrimination and family conflicts. Remittances were often intercepted by in-laws and spent on luxuries. In this PAMS, village organisations were built to discuss the situation of migrant wives among the community members. Use of the remittances was negotiated among family members, with the result that more is now invested in the health and education of migrants’ children.

Developing a community-based tourism model in Kaski district in Western Nepal Duration: January to December 2009Executing Agency:Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN), Western Regional Chapter, PokharaPartners: swisspeaceA PhD study looked at the role of tourism for the process of peace-building after the civil war in Nepal. The insights from this study were validated and further extended in a PAMS project. A model trek route was built in the Pokhara valley in Western Nepal, with campsites and shelters for trekkers and porters. Along the route, villages were trained in home-stay operation and management. The PAMS provided local people with an important livelihood opportunity and substantially contributed to their recovering from the civil war.Download policy brief (English / PDF 1.2 MB)

Strengthening communication and trust between actors for sustainable forest governance in the North-West Frontier Province of PakistanDuration: August 2007 to March 2009Executing Agency:Sustainable Development Alternatives (SDA), IslamabadPartners: DSGZThis project on forest management in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan fostered dialogue and negotiation between the forest department and local communities. Related research in the region had shown that mistrust and a lack of state legitimacy at the local level was one of the main reasons that local communities refused to collaborate with state bodies. The most important outcome of this PAMS was that stakeholders with different backgrounds met to hold round table discussions and started negotiating their diverging interests. Moreover, among the villagers, the PAMS resulted in increased awareness regarding forest-related laws and rules, as well as of the respective responsibilities of the forest department and community.

Facilitating access of Dalit people to land resources in NepalDuration: November 2006 to March 2008Executing Agency:Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC), KathmanduPartners: DSGZThe Dalits of Nepal are a marginalised group of people who have suffered systematic discrimination within the hierarchical social system; they were formerly regarded as “untouchable”. Research revealed that many Dalits have no rights to land or other productive resources and are forced into bonded labour – a practice that, while illegal, is still widespread in remote rural areas of Nepal. A PAMS project was launched aimed at mobilising the Dalits, providing capacity building and leadership formation, and raising societal awareness. Its long-term goal was to establish a dialogue between Dalits and government representatives, with a view to enacting changes in land-related policies. This PAMS project played a crucial role in anchoring the rights of landless Dalits in the Nepalese government’s interim constitution.Download Outcome Highlights (PDF / 924 KB)